The short-term solution was to turn down the maximum output in mid-2013.

Now, at the end of year 2014, the new owner of ECOtality’s assets, Car Charging Group, is still fighting with the Blink issue.

In the latest press release, we found a promise to enhance performances of Blink charging stations by switching to new part supplier TE Connectivity instead of the previous supplier Rema.

“After exhaustive research and testing, CarCharging has selected TE Connectivity Ltd (“TE”) as the new supplier for the cord set for the Blink Level II commercial EV charging stations. TE provides the cord sets for GE, SemaConnect, Schneider, and other EV Charging station suppliers.”

From now on, all new sold and/or deployed Blink Level II EV chargers will meet 30 Amps specification (roughly 7.2 kW of power available).

The second statement is that CarCharging intends to replace the cord sets on all of the installed Blink Level II EV chargers in commercial locations and then to restore the amperage from 24 Amps to its maximum capacity (30 Amps).

Time flies so who knows, maybe in 2015 or 2016 Blink units finally will all work at 30 Amps. For now, 5.8 kW remains the ceiling.

“Since the acquisition of the Blink related assets, CarCharging has been committed to improving the overall performance of the Blink EV charging stations and, specifically, the replacement of the Rema cord sets on the Blink Level II EV chargers. After extensive research and testing, we are confident that the cord sets from TE will support the Blink Level II EV charging stations in performing at their maximum capacity and allow EV drivers to charge their vehicles more rapidly.”

The blink stations just need to go away. They are total crap. Everything about them is crap. They are unreliable. The have this big screen on them that is just not necessary and is often the point of failure. The way the cable is wound up on the station is a horrible design. The J1772 connector is way too long and sticks out of the side of the car too far, creating a situation where people might bump into it, damaging the connector or cable. In DF/W you can bet a 50% chance if you drive up to a blink station, it will be broken.

This is good news. For many of us BLINK is the only option on the road. 6KW (almost none have 240V power) is already terrible and 4.8 is downright awful. 80 Amp stations are really the way to go if you have a J-1772.

CCG has been pushing the “blink HQ” EVSE to residential owners for a while now. But not too long ago they dialed down the current on the Blink residential stations to 24A like they did with the commercial stations.

Frankly, I’d like to see a charging network start to push 40A (or more!) capable stations instead of 30A. Even though the majority of plug-ins out there currently don’t support that much current, there are a lot of Teslas out there that do. And having more higher current stations available might help encourage manufacturers to ship cars with higher amperage on board chargers.

The wiring to handle more current is cheap once you’ve dug the trench and/or run conduit for a commercial station. The expensive part is the labor to install the stations.

Blink network is popping up all over Southern California where there were once free clipper creek chargers to use. I for one oppose the use of them at an average of .49¢ a kWh. It’s cheaper to drive a gas car than to spend that much per kWh to charge up a car and go 80 miles. Its ashame that this network is trying to rape the very drivers who are trying to help with air pollution. Shame on you BLINK